Classical Studies

-_- The second to last panel is supposed to say leather-worker and I ONLY JUST NOTICED IT NOW. I will try and go back to fix it later. AUGH.

Also, I am imagining Ajax Telamonian with sort of a Lumpy Space Princess type voice happening? Because my brain is a weird place.

I know this is short and you have to wait A WHOLE FLUFFIN’ WEEK for the next installment, please don’t throw rocks and/or shields at me. *throws shiny glitter to distract you and runs away*

But seriously, if you are still reading, which I’m assuming you are if you’re reading these words, thank you for reading and sticking along. ALSO, feel free to share this with your friends/mother/grandmother/librarian/nerdy person in your life if you think they would enjoy this. ❤

Nestor amuses me every time. Every. Time. His speech is actually important to many academics for Reasons, but I cut most of it BECAUSE we don’t have time for that.

Talthybius, the messenger dude. KEEPS. SHOWING. UP. One of the problems of reading and writing as I go and not planning anything means I don’t actually know who is going to be important. Like, BTW, there are two Sarpedon’s and I was like: “Make sure you don’t mix up the Sarpedon’s Naomi,” AND I’M PRETTY SURE I DID ANYWAY.

Um. Anyway.

Thoas and Eurypylus will probably die so I hope you are not attached. I tried not to make them too remarkable. I don’t really know why they pop up here with our other main characters *shrugs* But who knows?

And, same as last week, we will be skipping over Monday and the next post will be Wednesday. I am hoping, hoping, hoping, I can make some sort of progress, but with Christmas Season on its way (yay for retail) I honestly Can Not Make Promises because I will probably break them. I also have a short wedding celebration trip in October, sooooooo…. Not a lot of extra time *cries* BUT OH WELL.

And lo! I have returned! I’m not dead! July my depression kicked me in the gut, which messed with my anxiety, which was – – – –

So……… I started this post 24 August and now that it’s ALMOST AN ENTIRE MONTH LATER. -_- My hours went up which was Great, because Monies, but ALSO then I had no time at all for projects. It is a difficult struggle to balance Money and Projects. Ehk.

Ah, Menelaus. He tries. I love his nameless attendants and how relieved they are.

Annnnnnd…. That’s all for now folks! We are skipping Monday and there won’t be another post until Wednesday. I know, I know. I wish I could be more consistent with this, but my room is half-organized, my WIP is only one chapter edited, my other WIP needs to be pieced together, sewn, and cut. Also, I need to edit my Song of Roland Comedy that I have needed to do since 2016. -_-

I have so many thoughts about Diomedes. He goes on about how he’d never dare to fight an immortal, but we know that’s not true. He goes on about the sacredness of guest-friendship (also known as xenia), but is that because he’s pious or because he’s tricksy? Does he think Glaucus could actually hurt him and so finds a way around fighting him? I don’t think so, based on him trying to attack Apollo and attacking Ares. So maybe he is a pious man? I just have so many questions. I love this man.

Ahem. Anyway.

Short post today. We shall have a silly “fanfic” post on Friday and should be back on Monday with the next post, which will star our fabulous non-helmeted-but-really-should-have-one Hector.

So, supposedly there’s this No Man’s Land between the armies, but I still can’t quite believe this scene and find it comical that these two guys are just Time Out having storytime as the battle rages on around them. What soldiers do that? I mean, I know why it’s happening story-wise, but looking at it purely from a non-literary point of view it’s ridiculous. I love it.

Some advice: don’t mess with Dionysos. Just don’t. There are lots of different version of what happened to Lycurgus of Thrace (not to be confused with the other non-Thracian Lycurgus), but I went with panthers killing him… although, considering how horribly my cats turn out I DO NOT KNOW WHY. Past Naomi, what were you thinking?

I was excited to see Thetis again, though.

The story of the Lady and the Failed Seduction is fairly common, and I feel like it stems from the fact that men understood that was one of the only ways women could have power over them, and it terrified them. I think it’s partly because of these stories that we still have a lot of men who are like, “Women aren’t raped, what, they’re just lying. Men are the true victims. The victims of lying horrible lady dogs.” -_- Ugh. Sorry. Is my feminism showing? How rude of me.

Ahem.

Moving on.

I highlighted the moment with the king handing over the tablet because writing was seen as this terribly dangerous magic for a long time.

I included two pissed off ladies (Glaucus’ mother and grandmother) because he doesn’t tell us their names and everything is focused on the male, on the sons, on the fathers – but dude. You cannot have babies without ladies. I wish we had more on them, but so often the women are erased or slapped on with the vague title of “Wife of…” UGH. Super not helpful for writing comics, ancient dudes. What were you thinking?

ANYWAY. Glaucus is a sassy pants and we will see him again next time. Have fun, my lovelies, and have a great day.

Second, I am laughing at myself because I thought there would be only one Part 7 and instead there were two and part 7.2 was the longest section I’ve had yet.

You can’t really read it, but on the side of the Helmet of Invisibility it says “Property of Hades.” WHICH makes me ask the question: why the heck does Athena even have this? Did she ask to borrow it? Did she steal it? I mean. Hades doesn’t really show up in the Iliad so why does his helmet. So many questions. So. Many.

I find it fascinating how much everyone hates Ares. I really think that this scene with Zeus and Ares is where Homer shows through. When Zeus is talking about how much Ares’ disgusts him all I really see is Homer stepping into the role of Zeus and using him as a way to express how much he himself hates war.

Paieon is not really important, so I didn’t draw him with anything memorable. He is sort of like an avatar of Apollon/Asklepios or something anyway so… Feel free to ignore him.

But Hebe, man. Do I want to know more about Hebe. Who is this random lower ranking goddess? She helps bathe people, helps them into chariots… It’s just so random. She’s like the extra who fills in the un-cast parts or something.

As for the bathing, it may seem random that Zeus is suddenly shouting at Ares to take a bath but remember, despite how clean he looks in the drawing, he is actually COVERED in GUTS. I cannot draw guts, so I apologize for the lack of them, but the point is Ares is disgusting and gross right now and decided THIS is how he should show up to the Father of the Gods. It is incredibly insulting to show up in front of a god in this state. In pretty much every religious tradition you wash yourself before you enter sacred space. This is true for Egyptians, Canaanites, Israelites, Hittites, and all of the Greeks. And yet Ares shows up covered in intestines and soaked through with blood. What are you thinking, Ares? What are you thinking. Athena and Hera might be sassy and make their opinions clear, but both of them prepared beforehand, dressed well, and spruced themselves up first, being aware of sacred space and the proper ways to behave in front of divinity.

Anyway. I could go on, but there’s that.

AND SO, eventually we’ll start up the next book and I’ll get you a recap of Book 5 and everything. I know we’re behind again, but I worked like 58 hours this past week so I’ve just accepted that this will get done when it gets done. I do start my library job training tomorrow and then I have the rest of the day to work on stuff so *fingers crossed* I can get some Book 6 drawing done.

ALSO ALSO I love these little guys and I am so grateful for all of you who have been reading along. Thank you ❤

I love Apollo and I wish I were better at drawing him consistently. I knew from the beginning he would be difficult and he has not failed me in that respect.

Also, I love love love that Demeter got to show up here and get a cameo ❤

Also, yay for Artemis and Leto.

You can understand why Aeneas became such a cult hero. He has not just one, but FOUR (plus kind of Ares) gods watching over him.

Sarpedon is going to show up again and he’s mildly important. Not very, very important, but more important than, say, that guy on the island whose sailors mutinied. So. I guess pay attention to him? If you feel like it?

Hopefully on Friday I’ll have the next post up! We shall see. I still need to get next week’s stuff done and I’m working all week and have plans all weekend AND also I still haven’t done my taxes *faints* So we’ll see how life goes. In the meantime! Have a lovely day! 😀

I love Diomedes response to Sthenelus, ahahaha… And man, still obsessed with horses.

I have never done close up shots of people’s faces before, so it was kind of odd that I had two this time, but Pandarus’ has become strangely important to me. He is the one that really ends any hope of peace and he tries so hard, but the gods are against him, and his wife is going to hear the news of his death, and it’s just sad times. I do think that there is some symbolism in his death. He has his tongue sheared off and the javelin/spear enters close to his eye. He has great eyesight and used that as part of his bow and arrow skillz and because of this he boasted that he killed Diomedes – not once – but twice. It makes one wonder that if he hadn’t been as boastful would his fate have been different? It’s easy to blame Diomedes or Athena, but the Iliad includes this idea of cause and effect. There is Fate, yes, but your attitudes affect how your Fate plays out. It’s a mixture of Fate and Freewill (unlike, I would say, The Aeneid, but that’s for another day far into the future).

Anyway. Today was short, and Wednesday will be too. It will take some time to get through books 5 and 6, so just be prepared for that. ANYWAYS. Have a good day my lovelies!